JuranBoldenRules

He was right though. Kevin Glenn was a path to nowhere. Guy played 18 seasons in the CFL with almost every franchise and never won a Grey Cup, even as a backup. He won 4 playoff games in his whole career. He only made it to 2 Grey Cups and started 1. That is borderline impossible in a 8/9 team league. Can **** on him for not being able to identify/develop a QB but the Kevin Glenn decision was necessary at the time for the franchise.

IMO MCI isn't in the same realm as a guy like Yazbeck as a tailback. A lot of people put stock into the system Yazbeck was in at Western, but his backfield mate Keon Edwards who had 3000 yards career rushing going into last year 7+ yards a carry was a 5 yard a carry guy last year while Yazbeck was 10. There's something special there. Even a guy like Knight is a bit of an enigma but there's definitely teams that have been following him for 3-4 years that see a ton of talent there and don't care too much about the combine/NFL talk. If anything the testing numbers probably solidify him as a CFLer. And he's probably the most reliable receiver of the tailback in this draft and that carries a lot for the role of a running back in this era. Think MCI could be a nice special teams, H-back type guy in the passing game. Kind of what we mostly needed that Augustine roster spot to be over the years, way more raw physicality there to develop on special teams. Don't really see him being a significant option carrying the ball. Certainly not a guy who is going to dictate draft strategy by being on the roster. Obviously have potentially a more pressing need at receiver but for the most part think the Bombers can go best player available with an eye to some spots where the Canadian depth is aged. To me with a Canadian starting at running back and potentially wanting to use 3 Americans on OL having more of that Harris/Oliviera, younger Augustine type combo where you have a guy that can slot in and produce if Brady needs to miss 2-3 games with minimal roster disruption. Wouldn't force the pick, but the guys are on the board who could offer that. Other alternative is to be ready to swap a Canadian in at receiver for an American which is also something that can be achieved by grabbing a couple nice pieces/prospects out of this draft IMO. Then you have another guy in the MCI mould who are crazy athletes with minimal tailback reps like Oshinubi. That guy needs a year or two to be a player in a CFL offense but can play special teams right away on sheer athleticism. I wouldn't be surprised to see a bunch of top 3 round picks from last year and 2023 not make their teams this year due to the strength of this rookie class. MCI is a guy that could be on that list depending on who we draft at receiver/RB and special teams with the DB/LB class. There's going to be a lot of good competition for the Canadian roster spots around the league.

Was thinking this morning...Keanu Yazbeck would be a great pick for us in the 2nd or 3rd round. A guy who legitimately could spell Brady and be a difference maker. Very similar style, a little more twitchy, a little less brute force but very similar. Would be nice to have a critical mass of guys in the backfield to keep them all up for 18 games + playoffs. I think we could easily walk away from this draft with a couple playmakers on O who are good ones from Day 1. There's a crapload of receivers. Guys who would be 1st-2nd rounders in most drafts will probably be around in the 4th round, and that's discounting the obvious NFL guys.

Depends on the market. Some of the buildings in LA, Vegas places like that have been paid for by the owners. CFL scenario the big thing would be controlling/managing the facility and not just being a tenant.

I think a private owner could make money playing in a government funded stadium that they control. That's the basic conditions here. The government wrote down the stadium debt twice so the Bombers through BBB just had to service the one $10 million loan. Otherwise according to the original plan they'd be plowing $4.5 million a year onto that debt line. Still would have made some money but in lean years would be quite dicey. I'm perfectly fine with how this all played out, but I think it is really hard for a CFL franchise to be run competitively and profit in this era. The business model basically relies on ownership using the franchise as a marketing vehicle or for personal glory, being willing to accept negative cash flow on operations.

Going to be hard to know who's who when every team's QB is "Air Canada."

That's a mock that severely underrates a decent class of athletic and available U Sports linemen. The OL/DL who came to the combine largely performed very well. Anderson is going to drop past some guys that no one will see coming.

The commissioner has rarely had a significant role in those areas. They have a competition committee that deals with rule changes. Under Ambrosie aside from the off-field conduct and major decisions like suspensions and Marino barring a player from the league most of the supplemental discipline has been handled by Darren Hackwood and the group of game supervisors. Yeah the Halifax thing is a joke that needs to end. They have major issues with every franchise west of Sask. BC is doing ok if the owner keeps plowing cash in and is willing to lose money. See how long that lasts. Edmonton and Calgary both have major problems off the field. Hard to know how long those franchises can stand with major losses, like $5 million a year in operations. Montreal, Toronto always need attention too.

No chance. There's way too many good players in this draft. And we have such a lack of depth at Canadian receiver, OL and DL on top of counting on some senior players in football years to carry a heavy load. Like one day Demski will just be done, Neufeld There's still no real upside to rostering a Canadian QB. K Rourke will probably be 28-29 by the time he's even thinking of coming to play in the CFL. And might be physically cooked by then/made enough money that he doesn't really care to come here and try to compete to lead a team. 5th round or below I could see it. But I bet Calgary uses one of their freebie picks on Rourke. Elgersma and Senecal are legit candidates to make a CFL roster as a QB too.

I'm kind of tired of the DE's being brought in with no burst. Give us someone who can get off the line and put some pressure on OT's to even get hands on them. Seems like we're trying to lead the league in knockdowns instead of pressures. Greenwood looks very Garbutt/Wilcots style of plodding, work into the pocket, get into passing lanes style of DE. Would prefer a purer style of rusher given Jefferson is already that guy to watch QB eyes and be disruptive that way. I don't really want the whole DL playing basketball defense. Could be that Greenwood is being looked at more as a 3 technique guy. Hall seems more the style I'm after, but all his college film he's in a contain style 2 point stance. Would like to see what he can do with a hand down or pure 4 point sprinter style get off.

I don't believe there's a line of people willing to take the job. Generally though, Bell is flailing badly with TSN being a core part of their problems. Have been hearing for awhile they are trying to auction off bits of NFL rights just to get a little cash because they are having such issues. Obviously a position the CFL and it's fans are quite familiar with over the past 50 years. Maybe this is the guy. But, low public profile, kind of a meh Jeffery Orridge/Garth Buchko style inside hire. I am whelmed.

It'll be interesting to see when they get everyone on the field for a few days where the new Americans end up. Obviously one corner spot up for grabs, maybe safety/HB (Nichols could move to S). Most of our rookies have been in multiple pro camps already and even have some games in either NFL or spring leagues.

Even if he's the best option coming out of camp. You don't like him? Hate kids from the GTA?

It’s pretty rare that a guy who otherwise would have made the team leaves the team and goes back to school. So in sum I think it really won’t make a a difference for individual players. Could see teams cycling Canadians through camp to find what they are looking for. And easier to do that when more players available. So really for the player probably a better shot to actually make a team vs the “come to three camps with us because you don’t count against the roster limit but we don’t really want you” situation we have now.

Yeah I think in the long run it also gives the Canadian players a better chance to make a team because they'll be available to everyone. They should also fix the draft so players declare when they are done playing U Sports. They were on that track at one point instead of the automatic eligibility 4 years after they first enroll. The guys like McEwen would just wait until they are done playing U Sports to sign with the team that drafts them.

I think they were kind of screwed either way. They trade Adams and lose his game cheques, either acquire in that trade or sign a reasonable backup QB, they go over by $200,000 instead of $300,000.

Choquette blew the combine up when they put pads on. I have a hard time seeing any team looking for a ball-carrier type RB taking Zorn before him, but maybe a bit of a sleeper into the 3rd-4th round. There's 5 legit CFL quality tailback type guys in this draft and then Stubbs from the U of M who isn't really explosive at this level, and probably too slow/small generally lacking explosiveness to be a special teams guy. But gritty back in CIS so maybe he can translate that into a role. Knight from UBC is another productive guy, tested kind of crappy and kind of aloof at CFL combine, thinks he's headed to NFL. Oshinubi from U of A, not the lead guy on his own team, but the kind of crazy athlete for special teams and maybe spot duty/2 back/H back type guy that everyone needs. Could easily be off the board in 2nd round just based on that physicality. Probably put himself over Knight because he's just an athletic football player, not worried about carrying the ball necessarily. Zorn is a real upright runner, goes down maybe a little too easy for CFL level. Looks to me like he might be the kind of guy you'd switch to blocking back/receiver, utility type. A guy that can be dangerous in space, not sure he'd be very productive as a tailback in CFL. Yazbeck from Western. Surprised with explosiveness, from a real run heavy program that just grinds other teams. So a little different watching his highlight tape than all the guys running out of 5R spread stuff all the time. Another guy IMO that could be a real mid round gem, especially for a team like us going Canadian at tailback. But, main critique again is the upright running, not such a bad habit when you're stronger and wayyy more athletic, but not going to work against pros. Runs heavy, loves to stiff arm and has the home run cuts in him, might be a nice compliment to Brady. Lots of good players here and I'd bet with the depth of defensive guys, receivers and OL they will be on the board in the 3rd-5th rounds.

They basically paid $1.3 million for their starting QBs last year that’s the big difference…then Betts. They deprived themselves of so many roster spots, starting crappy players on rookie deals throughout their LB and secondary group which basically killed their chances to even get to the Grey Cup game. Imagine how far over they would have been if they paid for a defense.

Not in comparison to the rest of the league, but they gave Calgary an extra advantage that devalues every other pick by 1-2 slots from the end of the first round to the end of the draft. If they remove the picks we're picking 6, 14, 16. Now we're picking 6, 15, 18.

Depends on how you look at it RE adding picks. BC forfeits the picks but then they are added back at the end of each round for Calgary. Not sure how they decided they are added before the extra Canadian picks instead of after. Nice reward for failure for Calgary. Could be gifting them two impactful players for nothing…because BC f’d up. To me, they are added picks. Teams lose their picks for supplemental draft and they aren’t handed out to other teams. Teams have lost picks for SMS violations in past years and they are just dropped from the draft.

Yeah the expression is "sucks to suck" to "pays to suck" I guess "pays to suck" is the oldest profession. Basically penalizes us for playing the most Canadian snaps by knocking that pick down 2 spots.

I don't think we will be making a futures pick that early. He will be in the NFL. I could see the Bombers taking a DL in the first round if someone like Newell drops to us. Otherwise I'd bank on the pick being OL or receiver. We are really light in both spots for Canadians and we'll be starting 5 Canadians on O at minimum.

I'd expect to get 3-4 guys who can play this year. The OL group is probably the deepest since 2019. Talking about guys who will end up in the CFL. There's a **** load of good edge/3 technique guys for DL. Including the BYU guy who has potential to drop into a spot where he'd be a real steal based on how he's turned off the personnel guys in both leagues. There's a ton of very good DB's. There's a solid receiver group, although some guys in both receiver/DB group might get a good look in the NFL. I kind of wonder what other teams are prioritizing. There's a chance for the Bombers in the first round, remembering BC's pick is off the board and added back to the end of the 1st round to Calgary, to grab a real impactful DL, a OL who could play this year, or a starting receiver IMO. Like if I'm Walters and our pick comes around, Ethan Jordan still on the board, don't think I could pass on him. That guy is a star.

Yeah probably get him to eat his way to 3 technique but mostly as a patient gap filler. I'd be surprised if he gets anything but a mini-camp invite from NFL. Really don't like DL who have weak legs and jumps. He's also 25 so probably not a ton of upside, hope we don't repeat the Anthony Bennett mistake. Want a guy with legs that look like tree trunks who can jump 36 inches. There are a lot of guys like this in the upcoming draft. Probably be ok CFLers for a little bit, hold a place. But nothing exceptional.

The Bombers bankroll the U16 and U18 provincial teams along with camps run all winter and spring in preparation, and not just for the more elite group who end up making those teams. Also U12 and U14 academy programs on top of that. In addition to bankrolling WHSFL league operations, supporting RMFL and supplying all minor football programs, some more than others based on need. They've been running a flag program for a long time. Both at indoor soccer facility and a summer program. I'd bet amateur football in MB would shrink by half if the Bombers pulled back. It costs way less to run a high school program now than when I played because of their support, like by 1/3.